The Choice that Changes Everything

Gabe: Hey, Porch. Please take a seat as we read God's Word together. Today we're going to be reading from the book of Luke, chapter 5, verses 1-11.

"On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' And Simon answered, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.' And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.' And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him."

Now our first message in our series called Disciple.

Kylen Perry: Thanks, Gabe. Porch, how are we doing? Are we doing okay tonight? It's great to see you. Thanks for making time to be with us here in Dallas, Texas, as well as all over the nation. I'm so grateful that, Porch.Live, you would tune in. Special shout-out to Porch.Live Scottsdale, Porch.Live Des Moines, and Porch.Live Midland.

Listen. There are a handful of moments in a dating relationship that are defining, to say the least. From the very first time you may meet your significant other's friends, and you feel all the pressure of needing to make a good first impression with their people; to the very first major disagreement the two of you have, yet you know the relationship is worth fighting for, so you're not willing to give up on it, and you'll go to great lengths to make sure this thing stays together; to the first time he calls you his girlfriend, and you just can't wait to let everybody else know this is now the state of your relationship; or the first time you find yourself on a trip together and you get a chance to see, like, "What do they do before they go to bed? What is their nightly routine? What kind of person are they in the morning?" to the very first time one of you risks it all and says those three small yet oh-so-powerful words, "I love you."

There are a handful of defining moments, defining firsts, that take place in every dating relationship, but for Brooke and me, there was one moment that surpassed them all, that stood out above the rest. Do you know what it was? It was the very first time I met her dad. Brooke and I had been dating about a month or so when I received a text message from her father asking me to meet so I could clarify my intentions for his daughter, which is a very fair thing for a father to ask, yet it still sent a very sensible chill down my spine.

So, I respond very promptly and say, "Yes, I'd be happy to meet. Where would you like to go?" He responds with no words whatsoever, just an address, a Starbucks that was local to the area where we were supposed to meet, which I assumed was the location of my pending doom. Now, there are a few reasons I'll never forget meeting Brooke's dad for the very first time.

Firstly, at this time I didn't have much experience drinking coffee. Today, I know my way around the coffee shop. At the time, I knew nothing about the stuff, so I ordered the only thing I thought was right in a place like Starbucks. I ordered a cappuccino, which is a horrible decision when the guy only drinks coffee hot and black. That's the way he likes it. Cappuccinos don't jive with him whatsoever.

Secondly, I remember this moment so distinctly because I didn't want there to be a lull in the conversation. I didn't want there to be any awkwardness whatsoever. No silence could take place, so I nervously kept talking the entire time and told him everything I wanted to do after I got out of college. I graduated in the spring, and I moved into the rest of my life, and I began to start my career and figure out what it looked like to be a young adult in the world, which just confirmed to him the fact that I was a senior dating his freshman daughter.

Lastly, and most notably of all, I remember that moment so well because it went incredibly well. Even though it felt like we got off to a rocky start, and I wasn't sure how things were going to end, over the course of our time together I got to share my intentions for his daughter, he got to clarify his expectations, we got to remove all confusion, and that conversation changed the course of Brooke's and my relationship forever.

Now, why do I tell you that? Because in the same way, as we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, he wants to have an equally defining moment with us. He wants to come to us and clarify all of the intentions about what's going to happen in our relationship, he wants to set all of the expectations of what should be true between the two of us, and he wants to remove any confusion whatsoever. Jesus wants to make sure we know how we are supposed to relate to him.

The way we're supposed to relate to Jesus is as disciples, which may, for some of us in the room, feel surprising. We know Jesus came to save us from our sins, that we were the problem he came to fix, we were the issue he came to resolve, we were the addict he came to rehabilitate, we were the head case he came to calm down, yet Jesus didn't just show up to save you from your sins. He wants so much more for you.

Jesus doesn't just see you in light of your problems; he sees you in light of your potential. He doesn't just want to clean you up and then kick you out. He wants to form you, mold you, grow you, shape you, and develop you, which is what we all want. Fascinatingly, if you go and look at the trends that we, as young adults, have set as we've told the watching workforce what we want to be true of our office spaces, what we have said is we want good coaches more than we want good bosses. We want big purpose more than a big paycheck. We want to be cultivated as individuals more than complimented as individuals.

What we, the young adults of our generation, have told the world is what the Bible has been saying all along. We want to be discipled. We want to be formed. We want to be shaped. We want to be grown. We want to be matured in some respect. Yet here's the thing you need to know. Before you can be discipled, you have to meet the Discipler, and the place we meet him is in Luke, chapter 5. Gabe just read it to us, and we're going to work our way through it.

As you're turning there, let me just put my cards on the table and share with you why we are doing this series. We're doing this series because I am convinced that far too many of us have settled for lives of knowing about Jesus and not actually knowing Jesus. We think we have him figured out. We know what he brings to the table. We have our Christian friends. We've seen the principles that guide and guard their lives, yet we know, "He's worth giving part of my life to, but I don't know that I want to give him my full life."

Here's what I would argue, and here's why we're doing this series. If you don't give Jesus your full life, then you are costing yourself the fullness of life. It's by following wholeheartedly that we not only become what we want to be, but we become more than we ever thought we would be because we become like him. That's what it means to be discipled, and that's why, over the course of this series, I want to do with you what I always do in any discipleship group I lead.

I just want to study a handful of snapshots through the Gospels, and I want us to see the real Jesus from the eyes of the men who knew him best. I want to put us from the same vantage of the disciples themselves. I want us to see what they saw, hear what they heard, walk in their shoes, and go wherever they went as they followed after Jesus.

I believe, as we see them follow Jesus…not just an idea of Jesus, not just some concept of Jesus, but the real, true Jesus Christ… As we see them follow him, I think…nay, I know…we will learn what it means to follow him ourselves. So, we have to start where they started. Luke 5. We'll pick it up in verse 1.

"On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat."

We need to set the scene, because we're catching up to Jesus mid-ministry at this point. He has already begun his public ministry. Word has spread about this young traveling prophet, this young teaching rabbi, and everybody wants a piece of this guy. They've seen the miracles he has performed and heard the authority with which he teaches, and everybody wants to get a piece of him. He's the big-time star who rolls into the small-town square, and everybody can't get close enough. They all want a picture with Jesus. They all want to get an autograph from the guy.

So he, feeling all the pressure, as people are gathering around him, is looking for a way to get some breathing room. Stage left, minding their own business, are four guys: Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John. These guys are mending their nets. They're cleaning their nets. They're untangling debris and tying new knots and repairing rips, because they had just fished the night before, and now that it's daytime, they're preparing to go out and fish again whenever evening comes. Yet into Peter's world and his boat steps Jesus.

Jesus hops into Peter's boat. He needs to get some breathing room from the crowds around him, so he asks Peter, "Hey, can you just push off from land a little bit? I need to take this boat for a minute, and I need to turn this thing into my pulpit." Peter casually obliges, which may feel crazy to us, yet you would do the same thing if Jesus hopped into your boat. Not knowing anything about the guy, you would realize, "There's probably something worth knowing about the guy, because all of these people are clamoring to get as close to him as possible."

So, what we see is, in verse 4, once he had finished speaking, he said to Simon… Turning his attention from the crowds and to Peter himself, he says, "'Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.' And Simon answered, 'Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.'"

The first thing we have to learn about discipleship from Jesus is Jesus turns failures into followers. As we consider this idea of discipleship, becoming a disciple, learning from the eyes of the disciples themselves, we need to know that Jesus turns failures into followers. He's like the team captain who does not choose the best of the best to play on his team. Instead, he chooses the worst of the worst.

The reason is he knows he's strong enough to carry the squad. He doesn't look at Peter on the heels of a triple-double and think, "Man, that was a new personal best. I have to get you onto my team." That's not what he thinks. He sees that Peter just went over 12 and had six turnovers the night before. Peter is anything but suitable to be on Jesus' squad, yet Jesus chooses him anyway. Jesus wants failures. He wants to turn them into followers.

Now, the reason we know he failed is because they fished all night long and caught nothing. I don't know about you, but when I read that, that didn't actually feel too crazy. Whenever I go fishing, I'm not super successful at it, so the thought of fishing all night long does not seem like so much of a stretch.

Yet, what we need to remember is these men, these four guys we're introduced to in this story, and Peter specifically in this moment, are fishermen by trade. They were working professionals, experts in this subject area. They had grown up learning all of the tools of the trade. This was their family business. So they are absolutely those who should be regarded within this realm far more than anybody else.

They know more about the topic than the rest. That's why they fished at night. On the Sea of Galilee, fishermen would go out in the evenings, and using one of three different methods of catching, they would try to trap fish in shallow waters, because schools of fish would swim to the shoreline where they would feed on minnows and smaller fish in the warmer, shallower waters. They would do so in the evening because there wasn't much foot traffic.

Yet, despite having all of the tools and all the training and all the technique, Peter has nothing to show for it. He's a failure, and he has no excuse to be, which is probably a feeling many of us understand. Many of us keep falling short even though we know better. We have the right knowledge. We have the proper tools. We've installed Covenant Eyes. We've assembled good accountability, yet we continue to fall into the swarm of sin we have carried with us for so very long. We know better, yet we continue to fail again and again and again.

It feels like we're the only ones. Like, "Nobody else is struggling with a porn addiction. Everyone else has moved past that by this point." Or, "Nobody else is struggling with making an impact in the world. They've all gone and done it, yet I'm still stuck here, striving to do it. Everyone else is already making six figures, but I can't get there. I've tried, I've angled, I've applied, and none of it has worked. Everyone has moved on from their past hurts, but I can't seem to do it. I can't bring myself to go. It's too difficult. I'm too identified with that thing which happened to me at some point in the past." We feel like what Paul describes in Romans 7.

"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me."

We're left not mending our nets, like these four guys, but we are left licking our wounds, wondering, "Though I know so much better, why is it that I keep falling prey to the same sin over and over? Why do I keep struggling and falling short? When is it going to feel as if I'm no longer a failure but actually a success? Why is it that I never seem to win, I only seem to lose, and I continually, perpetually find myself at rock bottom?"

If that's you, then you need to listen. Jesus in this story doesn't wait for these boys to come to him on their own time. He comes to them on his own time. He doesn't wait for Peter to have a good night. He actually shows up after Peter's worst night, after a colossal failure, which is encouraging to us, because Jesus doesn't need you to clean yourself up. He doesn't need you to make yourself right.

He doesn't need you to be 30 days sober before you come up to him. He doesn't need you to go a month without masturbation before you come to him. He doesn't need you to make claim to all the compromise you've done and come clean before everyone in your community before you come to him. He will take you how you are, wherever it is you are. He wants you exactly as you are here tonight. He doesn't need you to shape up. He just needs you to come to the shore. You see, Jesus turns failures into followers.

But here's the catch we learn from this passage. He's going to test if we'll actually follow him. That's what we see he does with Peter. He wants to do something great in Peter's life, yet he's going to put Peter through a couple of small tests, all of which revolve around something Peter knows exceedingly well. All revolve around fishing.

He looks at Peter, and he's like, "Hey, man. Can we put out? Can we go deep? Will you drop the nets?" Peter has no reason to do it. Peter is the fisherman. "Jesus, you're the carpenter." Peter could pull rank and say, "This is nuts. It's insensible. Why would we do it?" Yet what we see is that Peter takes small steps of obedience. He makes small moves of willingness, even though this is wildly unreasonable.

It doesn't make any sense that Jesus would ask him to do this. "First, this is the wrong time of day to fish. It's daytime. It's not night, Jesus. This is a horrible idea. Not only is it the wrong time of day; it's the wrong kind of water. We're in the wrong place. We should be in the shallows, but you're taking us to the depths. Why are we in the deep water? This is not where we cast nets, Jesus. It doesn't make any sense. It's totally unreasonable." Yet here is the thing: miracles seldom happen in the realm of reason.

Jesus is taking Peter into an unreasonable place because he wants to do something unreasonable in Peter's life. All Peter has to do is take steps of faith. Now, steps of faith are never easy. Steps of faith are always hard. The path of least resistance is never the path of greatest faith. Yet, as Peter takes these steps, as he makes these moves, he does so with a skeptical "Yes," but Jesus can do so much more with a skeptical "Yes" than an arrogant "No."

He'll take you with your doubts. You can feel some sense of confusion. He can work with that. He just needs you to row out a little bit deeper. It says in verse 6, "And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink."

Peter takes three small steps of faith and Jesus delivers three massive moves of God. They enclosed a large number of fish, their nets began to break, and both boats began to sink, which is the most ridiculous contrast. Just think about it. We just read that a team of four men, highly trained professionals, working all night long, could catch nothing, yet one man with some haphazard indifference drops a net and encloses the catch of the century.

What was the difference? Jesus was with one of them while he was not with the other four. Jesus makes the difference. That's what he wants us to see here. Jesus is going to move in ways we don't expect through people we wouldn't expect to prove he is far more than we ever expected.

Several years ago, I was skiing in Colorado, and I was riding a chairlift. I was by myself, so I was riding alongside one other single, a random guy. As is common courtesy whenever you're riding up the chairlift, we're just making small talk, easygoing conversation. I ask him where he's from. "Hey, man. How long are you here for? Oh, cool. Has it been a good trip?" We're just making conversation.

He looks at me and goes, "Hey, man. Do you want to see a trick?" "Sure. It's kind of a weird thing, just you and I up here, but why not?" So he takes a piece of his sandwich and hands me a morsel of bread, and he says, "Hey, just throw it over the chairlift." So I take the bread and throw it over the chairlift, and out of the trees flies a bird and catches it in midflight.

He goes, "I'll do you one better. Try this one." He takes it, and he has me not throw it over the rail but put it on the armrest of the chairlift itself. As I do, another bird swoops in from a tree, lands on the rail, grabs the piece of sandwich, and flies off into the unknown. For his final act, as I'm sitting there in disbelief, he takes another piece of his sandwich, but rather than handing it to me, he holds it out over the edge of the chairlift, and not just a bird but a hawk flies in, lands on his arm, and begins to eat the sandwich from his hand.

A few things stood out to me in this moment. First, that must have been a really good sandwich, and secondly, clearly, there's something different about this guy, which is exactly how Peter feels in this moment. Jesus has just done something so unexpected to prove that he is far more than Peter expected, and it changes everything for him. It freaks him out. It says in verse 8:

"But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon."

Peter, because of this interaction with Jesus, gets an entirely new outlook on life, which we need to adopt ourselves, because you can't reach your potential until you receive a new perspective. It's interesting the way Luke writes this account, because the minute Jesus shows up and proves to Peter, "Hey, I'm actually so much more than you think I am. I'm not just a teacher; I'm God," everything shifts for that brother.

He changes his name in a blip. He goes from Simon to Peter. He stops calling Jesus Master and starts calling Jesus Lord, and what you find is his entire perspective shifts. He's no longer a skillful fisherman; he's a sinful passenger, and it's not his boat anymore; it's Jesus'. You see, that's what it means when it says he was astonished.

The Greek there for the word astonished is the word thambos. What that word means… It's an emotional reaction pairing both fear and awe in one experience. It's the way you feel whenever you stand at the height of a skyscraper and look over the edge. Your heart kind of jumps up into your throat. You're horrified by the height of where you are, yet you are mesmerized by the view from up there.

That's exactly what Peter is feeling in this moment. Peter sees Jesus as Jesus is. He notices that Jesus is God in flesh. When he sees Jesus for who he is, as he pulls back the veil and gives him the smallest of glimpses as to who he is, he sees that Jesus is terrifyingly wonderful…wonderful because he is God, yet terrifying because "If he can see into the depth of this sea, then I know he can see into the depth of my soul, and he won't like what he finds there."

Some of us can relate to that feeling so much. We know it's true in our heart of hearts, and we're not proud of what's found there either. We know deep down the envy we have or the hate we hold or the anger we harbor or the jealousy we carry or the bitterness we bear or the lusts we crave, and we know it's not acceptable. We know it's ugly and cowardly and horrible, so we want to conceal it from people.

We don't want Jesus to see it, and we don't want others to see it, so we hide that part of our hearts from the watching world. We hide it. We conceal it. We act like everything is okay. We put up a nice front. We make sure we only sin in secret. We always run from the truth. Yet Jesus doesn't want that for Peter, and he doesn't want that for you.

Though Peter is so afraid of what's happening in him, and "God, if you see this, you won't want anything to do with me," Jesus does not reject Peter. He reaches for him. He grabs him. That's what it says in verse 10. It says, "And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.'"

Jesus looked at him and said, "Hey, I have plans for you. I have a future for you. I have a destiny for you the likes of which you wouldn't dream, but before we can get there, before I can unleash all of your potential, I have to unlock your perspective. Not just your perspective on who I am, that I am God, but your perspective on who you are, that I've come to get you, that you're no longer a slave to sin; you're a child of mine. You're a part of my family. I'm the one who went to the cross to endure all the consequence of your sin and shame, and because you've placed your faith in me, now you get all the reward of walking with me in relationship."

That's what Galatians 2:20 tells us. It tells us about a new perspective, that we've been crucified with Christ. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." You see, for those who are in Christ, it's no longer you who live; it's Christ who lives in you. Because your life is now his life, you live the way he wants to live, and Jesus wants to live for what matters most. He wants to live for people.

That's what it means when he says, "Hey, I'll make you into a fisher of men." In the gospel of Matthew and the gospel of Mark, he says, "Follow me. I'll make you into a fisher of men." He doesn't look at Peter and say, "Follow me, and I will make you happy." He doesn't look at Peter and say, "Follow me, and I will make you successful. I will make you popular. I will make you healthy." He doesn't say any of those things, because none of those things matter as much as people. People matter the most. Why? Because people go on forever.

The souls of every person in this room will not end. They will go one of two places. Jesus is challenging Peter to consider, "Hey, what will you give up that you might lean into all of the significance I have for you? I have a life I want you to live, Peter, something that really matters, that does not fade, that goes on forever."

The truth of the matter is, Porch… Can we just level with each other? We want that. Don't you? Don't you want a life of significance, meaning, purpose, and lasting impact that makes a difference in the world? Don't you want that for yourself? Does anybody in here just want to kind of roll through life in mundanity and meaninglessness? No. We all want to matter. We all want to make a difference. I'm so fired up about it because I know it's true.

Jesus is saying, "That's the kind of life I've come to give you." Yet, do you know what the irony is? We all want a life that matters, yet so often, too frequently, we live lives for things that don't matter at all. We want so badly to be successful, to reach the heights of some pinnacle where everyone knows about us, though in 100 years no one will know about us.

We want so badly to get that body to look this way, yet what we find is that, in time, no matter how hard we try, no matter how much plastic we put on, we're just going to grow old. We're just going to wear away. We want so badly to make more money, yet all of the things we buy, though they start with shine, eventually wear away and fade as the days grow long.

We want that job, yet here's the thing that's crazy. We're going to get that job, and we're going to love that work, yet when we retire, they're just going to backfill our position. No one will ever speak our name. Someone will actually do it better than we ever did. Some of us want popularity. We want the world to look at us and know us and love us, yet no one, though they may see us, actually knows us or loves us.

So many of us are investing in things that do not matter, that don't go the distance, that will fade in time. Jesus is standing here, looking at us, and saying, "I want something different for you. I want something better for you. I have the kind of life you wouldn't believe, but here's the thing. Before you can step into this life that matters, you have to leave the life that doesn't matter. You have to drop your nets." That's exactly what Peter, James, John, and Andrew do. We see in verse 11, "And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him."

So, let's play a hypothetical scenario in here. Say Taylor Swift or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or Justin Bieber or Jimmy Fallon or Blake Lively or your celebrity of choice comes to you and says, "Hey, I noticed you. I want you to come and follow me for the next year. You're going to have unprecedented access to me. You're going to get to go to the places I go, meet the people I meet, see the things I see, and do the things I do. You're going to get to be a part of all of it. Sure, you're going to have to let some things go, but you're going to get so much more if you come."

What's your response to that offer? "When are we leaving? Tomorrow? I can pack tonight. I can get there. I'll make my way. I'll get an Uber." We all want to go. Barring we have no outstanding circumstance, we want to be there. We want to go there. We want to hop in and ride off into the sunset with whoever our person of significance is. We want that sort of opportunity. Porch, someone so much more significant has offered it to you. Jesus is looking at you and saying, "Follow me, not just for the next year but for the rest of your life."

"Well, Jesus, what have you been a part of?"

"I'm the Son of God! I created the cosmos. I hold everything together."

That's pretty good. That's someone we should go with. That's someone we should hop in for. Jesus is looking at us and saying, "I will make you into something you wouldn't believe. I will lead you someplace you would never dream, but, friend, you have to follow me." Which tells us the last thing we need to know about discipleship. Nothing is worth keeping if it keeps us from Jesus. Nothing in the world is worth keeping if it keeps us from Jesus.

Here's the thing. As I wrote that point into my notes, I just knew… As I say it to the crowd tonight and you hear that command, some of you are going to be on the fence even still. Even though the offer has been made, even though the invitation has been set, you're going to hear the opportunity at hand and say, "Man, that sounds nice, but isn't that offer always available? This isn't really a limited time thing. This isn't an invitation that actually expires.

Sure, I want to commit my life to following Jesus. There's going to come a day where I want to settle down and have a wife or husband and have some kids and raise a family and live in that neighborhood and plant some roots and be a contributor to the community. I want all of that stuff, but here's the thing. I'm still in the prime of life.

I'm still young, attractive, ambitious, and adventurous. I have things I want to do, places I want to go, people I want to see, and joy I want to find. I have a life right now that I want to live, and I don't know that Jesus is going to give me the sort of tools and guide and guard that's going to lead me into that sort of reality. I want that. I just don't want that right now."

Friend, let me just tell you, if that's your response to the invitation Jesus is putting in front of you, you're not costing Jesus anything by making him wait, but you are costing yourself everything at the same time. Jesus wants more for you than you want yourself. That's why he wants you to follow him. Today, tonight, right here in this moment, he wants you to come with him, not because he needs anything from you. "I need you to tell me I'm awesome." No. He wants everything for you. That's his heart.

He's standing here this evening, not on the shore of Galilee but on a stage in Dallas, Texas, simply saying, "Hey, come and follow me. I have a life for you the likes of which you wouldn't dream of. You couldn't cook up something better than I have for you. Sure, it may be hard. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart; I've overcome the world. And guess what? I'm with you. Let's go together. I have something significant for you."

Porch, I'm praying we don't miss the offer while it still stands. I am praying you don't waste your life trying to figure out everything I'm saying is actually true. These men dropped everything to follow Jesus. More than the development he promised or the destiny he could give, they saw the delight he offered as God come to them.

Yes, Jesus wants to develop you. Yes, Jesus has a destiny for you, but he is, on his own, eternally, so sufficiently delightful. The life, the hope, the peace, the friendship, and the joy you long for in life are found in him. They're not found anywhere else. Sure, the world will offer and promise, but it will always underdeliver in this way. Jesus will deliver again and again and again.

Yet here's the thing. Though this delight stands ready for us tonight, we have to drop our nets. Whatever your safety net is, you have to let it down. You can't run forward while still holding back. You have to drop whatever it is you're carrying. For some of you, that means you have to drop the shame you feel. You have to drop the shame you have for that thing you did, that thing you said, that person you hurt, that place you went. You have to drop that shame.

I've heard some of the shame you carry, and I know it feels like, "I can't let this go so easily. This defines me now." No. That shame does not define you, for that shame was left in the grave once Jesus rose forth from it. So you drop it and you leave it where he left it himself. Others of you need to drop your anger. Someone did you wrong. Someone hurt you badly. Someone took something from you that they had no business taking. Yet, if you will only drop that anger, Jesus will give to you joy like you would not know elsewhere.

Some of you need to drop envy and let go of all the bitterness you hold toward other people because they have the things you want. You've tried not just as hard but even harder than they have to get where they are, yet you need to drop the fact that you think you deserve that, and you need to trust Jesus instead that he will take you where not just you want to go but he wants you to go in his own time.

Some of you need to drop your relationship. Though you love that person and they have some redeeming qualities, you know the two of you together are not godly and the two of you toward one another are not good. It's toxic, and it's time to drop it and let it go. Others of you need to drop your addiction. I'm not too naïve to know there are people in here who wrestle with pornography, who wrestle with alcohol, who wrestle with marijuana, who wrestle with scrolling, who wrestle with…whatever…because they're coping.

Listen. I don't blame you. I've been there. I'm not looking at you saying you're crazy, but I am looking at you and saying he's better. He can give you whatever you think that thing can. He can satisfy you not just as much but so much more than any bottle, any screen, or any pill. You're coping because you want joy. You want to feel something real, something good. It's here tonight, and he never runs out. He never runs empty.

Some of you need to drop your control, your need to make things happen the way you want, to get there whenever it is you want, to arrive on your own schedule. You need to drop that, and you need to trust that though you may feel insecure circumstantially, you are totally secure spiritually. He's got you. He's not going to let you go.

Some of you need to drop the image you're so desperate to keep. I've spent enough time around the church and around church people to know that so many of us pride ourselves on looking a certain way, on retaining that kind of reputation, on having that sort of character, and we are fearful that anything would ever happen to hurt the image we have worked so hard to build.

So desperate to keep it are we that we would conceal our sin, we would hide our shame, and we would stiff-arm people and keep them at bay, because we want to look a certain way, be perceived a certain way, and received a certain way. You have to drop that, because it's only robbing you of life. Some of you need to drop the future you're so desperate to find, because Jesus has a better future for you.

You know, the question, as we think about Jesus, is not what one pastor said. "Do I want heaven over hell?" The question Jesus is putting before you is "Do you want heaven over earth?" Do you want heaven? Do you want Jesus? Do you want eternity? Do you want everlasting life and all the joy and satisfaction that's found therein or do you just want the things of this world, those things which feel good for a moment but do not last? They will, in fact, fade, and they will run dry.

Jesus is sitting here tonight, and he's looking at you and saying, "Drop it all. Leave it here. Don't take it out into the city with you. Leave it tonight, because I came to turn failures into followers. So much so that I gave my life to save you. I came to unlock all of your potential, and that comes by way of new perspective.

That perspective is found not just in the death I died but the resurrection I rose, so that as I rise to heaven and sit next to the Father, you can rise alongside me if only you'd place your faith in me. There's potential in you. I see it. You can be like me. Just place your faith, and let's go. Let's move forward."

He wants you to know, "Nothing is worth keeping if it keeps you from me, because I was willing to give everything to get to you." Porch, won't you drop everything and follow him because he dropped everything to find you? Let me pray for us.

Father, we love you. I'm grateful for an evening like this. I'm thankful for your Word and the sufficiency of it and the fact that it speaks to a wide array of people. So many stories, so many histories, so many situations and circumstances all across this room, and the truth of your Word applies to all of us.

God, I beg you. Would you work in this next moment? Would you stir in our souls? Would you lead us to a place of radical response where we have heard the gospel, we have seen the invitation, and now, God, I pray we would reach out with arms extended to take the invite from you, to receive the offer you've given, to accept the gift you give by placing our faith in you. We love you. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen.